Short Interest in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) Rises By 26.1%

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 33,500,000 shares, an increase of 26.1% from the February 13th total of 26,570,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 9,930,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 6.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microchip Technology

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total value of $226,717.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,025,599.36. This represents a 10.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microchip Technology

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MCHP. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in Microchip Technology by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,378,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 39,298 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,254,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co grew its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 7,392 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,052 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,725 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $54.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.79 and a beta of 1.52. Microchip Technology has a 1 year low of $50.21 and a 1 year high of $100.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.21.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 6.49%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microchip Technology will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 325.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCHP. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Microchip Technology from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Microchip Technology from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.37.

About Microchip Technology

Microchip Technology Incorporated engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of smart, connected, and secure embedded control solutions in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company offers general purpose 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit mixed-signal microcontrollers; 32-bit embedded mixed-signal microprocessors; and specialized microcontrollers for automotive, industrial, computing, communications, lighting, power supplies, motor control, human machine interface, security, wired connectivity, and wireless connectivity applications.